


Revolution Radio (Operation No Control)

by flockofdoves



Series: Legalize The Truth [1]
Category: Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys (Album), Fall Out Boy, My Chemical Romance
Genre: Also green day is mentioned, And fob is in here, Danger days shit, Frerard, I think twnety one pilots will be mentioned but idk, Jet Star/Kobra Kid (bromance bc fuk u), M/M, Panic! Is mentioned too omg, Peterick, but i mean when is my writing never, this is most likely shit
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-08
Updated: 2016-11-06
Packaged: 2018-08-13 20:31:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 15,228
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7985239
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flockofdoves/pseuds/flockofdoves
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Honestly, dying wasn't all it's cracked up to be."</p><p>Set in a world about a year after the events of SING, where the Killjoys didn't really die.</p><p>(previously known as Blow A Kiss At The Methane Skies)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Dead!

**Author's Note:**

> Agh I've had this idea in my head for a while and decided fuck it I'm gonna write it so yay here it is

An intense burning feeling spread throughout my already weakened chest as the blast of energy struck me, making my limbs fell limb and crumple to the floor in utter defeat. I was dead. I knew it. I could feel the sensations of my organs shutting down as my eyes, which were no doubt already glazing over in death, flickered over to the image of Party Poison lying limp against the wall, Korse lying dead next to him. Poison’s eyes were closed, giving me the sense that he had finally found peace. After years of Zonerunning he never once looked at peace with himself until now. 

Which did hurt a little bit to see.

I hated the sight of this. I hated the situation that got us all ghosted. I hated seeing Kobra Kid go down, the Dracs surrounding us with more blasts of energy from their rayguns and their ugly masks being the last thing that the poor Kid would ever see. I almost wanted to die already, just so I could never see this again. Even though my body was shutting down, my heart still ached at this sight in front of me, as my dying eyes took in everything they could in these few moments I had left on this terrible Earth.

I saw Jet Star try to run out with Grace, but was struck with a blast to the shoulder. My hearing seemingly wasn't working then, so it could only hear white noise as I saw Jet beg her to go with the others in the car, before being dusted by a shot to the back. My heart ached to die, so I didn't have to watch helplessly as my friends were ghosted, dusted right in front of me. This was torture. Pure torture. I shouldn't have to watch this.

As Dracs stormed the place, I felt some pick up my body. Even though I didn't have the strength, I so desperately wanted to wrench my body out of their slimy hands, wanting to die out on the place where I finally fitted in. I wanted to crawl out of Battery City, even if it was indeed the last thing I did, and lie in the hot sun. The sand would dig into my back, pressing heat into my body. But I wouldn't care. I finally found a good life here, and the BLI had to go and fuck it up, as usual. But really, what could you expect from a company like this?

Suddenly, I felt my heart cease to beat, and I felt my lips curl upwards into a smile. I was finally dead. Black clouded my vision, and I kept on smiling through weird looks from the Dracs carrying me as I closed my eyes and ceased to exist.

~~~

_Is this the real life?_

_Is this just fantasy?_

_Caught in a landslide, no escape from reality._

_Open your eyes_

_Look up to the skies and see…_


	2. Alive?!

_beep… beep… beep… beep…_

A loud sound seemed to whip through my ears, piercing the silence that had surrounded me for so long. The darkness suddenly didn't seem so dark anymore, as if it was nighttime and the sun was finally rising from the horizon. 

Honestly, dying wasn't all it's cracked up to be.

There were no pearly gates, no Witch, no deity coming down from the sky and meeting your soul, or your spirit if you will. It was just black. Like you just fell into a dreamless, kind of uncomfortable sleep.

And sort of felt like I was trapped. Like a coma, I guess. An eternal coma. Well, I better get used to it though.

But the beeping was the first sound I had heard in a while, which did excite me. And as soon as it did, I heard the beeping go a little bit faster. Which did worry me, and surprise me at the same time, making the beeping go even faster.

And suddenly it was like I was ripped out a dreamless sleep, as my eyes flew open and all my senses returned to complete normal. Or they were heightened. I couldn't tell. The beeping grew even faster, much faster than before. I heard yelps and shrieks of surprise as my eyes eventually came into focus to stare at a couple smartly dressed woman standing in front of me, holding their clipboards over their mouths as their faces morphed into those of pure shock.

And as soon as I saw the happy face logo printed on the clipboards, my heart rate sped up more and the beeping went incredibly fast as I started to hyperventilate, wanting to die yet again. I knew I was on a hospital bed, which didn't help my situation as thoughts raced throughout my head, each seemingly going faster than the speed of light. 

“He wasn't supposed to wake up yet!” One of the woman shrieked, which made my heart rate go even faster, if that was possible. One of the other woman, sporting black hair up in a bob, was staring at me like I was a monster. I stared right back at her with the same expression, my hyperventilating growing even worse. 

“Calm him!” I heard someone screech, and suddenly I felt something surge in me, begging me to get up. Use your bloody arms to get up. And get out. Onto the desert. Now. 

And I did.

I forced my arms to plant themselves in a position to which I could push myself up, and with all my strength I pushed my upper torso up and off of the bed, finding it a lot harder than I remember it being. I noticed I wasn't wearing my Killjoy attire, but instead wearing an almost blinding white hospital gown and a hospital wrist band. Fucking things…

My head jerked upwards as my eyes adjusted to the lights, and I looked over to my left to see a scared bunch of little kids with a teacher figure standing protectively in front of them standing near to the smartly dressed women. I blew some of my still long (thank god) raven hair out of my eyes as I stared at them, a couple of the kids cowering behind the supposed teacher figure. They all looked at me like I was a monster, something to be feared greatly. 

“Teacher… he's awake…” One of the little children who was hiding behind the teacher squeaked, cowering even farther behind her as I looked towards them. The teacher shhed the child, looking straight at me.

“Shhh. He can't hurt you, Gerard.” That name sent shivers down my spine, and suddenly I began to hyperventilate faster. Memories flooded through my mind at that name, memories I'd rather not reminisce on. 

I let out a low growl, causing more shrieks from the kids as I stared at the teacher with such a rage filled glare, that she widened her own brown eyes and stepped back, the children doing the same.

“Mrs. Williams, is that his friend?” One of the other child spoke up, pointing the other way. The teacher - Mrs. Williams - shhed them once more.

“The other rebel, why yes. It is.” I suddenly felt another urge to look at whoever it was.

And as I turned my head to look, I swear to God without the beeping machine I would have sworn my heart had stopped.

There, laying on another hospital bed, was the one and only Party Poison.

Even though it felt like my heart had frozen, the beeping machine grew unhealthy fast as my breathing increased in speed as my widened eyes gazed upon the - probably comatose - person in front of me. His hair was it's natural brown, void of any dyes or additives that I grown accustomed to it having, but still long as shit. It was clear it had been cut, rather choppily, but still cut all the same. It looked like he was sleeping, but I knew it was much more grim than that.

“N-No…” I heard those words tumble off of my tongue and be voiced out loud with no green light from my mind as my eyes stared upon the man laying in front of me. “P-Poison… why…” Again, those words were not of my accord. Just inner monologue being voiced out in the most painful voice I've ever heard.

“What did he say miss? What did he say?” A little kid asked, tugging on Mrs. Williams’ pant leg.

“No, Poison, why.” Mrs. Williams whispered, staring straight at me as I sniffed, holding back agonizing tears as I removed one if my arms to reach out towards Poison, trying desperately to grab ahold of his hand, which was almost hanging off of the edge of the gurney. I felt so many fucking emotions at once it was almost overwhelming, and yet… I felt oddly numb. Maybe it was the shock. I want thinking too much of it at that moment. All I was thinking about was wrapping Poison’s fingers around my own, making sure I was touching at least some part of him.

But it was too far away.

A tear escaped my eyes as I felt myself be pushed down back onto the bed, shaking violently as I felt a needle being shoved into my other arm. My hand that was reaching towards Party Poison spazzed a little bit as I tried to grab out for his own, but failed in my attempts. I let out a choked sob as I felt the sedatives working their way throughout my body, and I desperately fought back against the drugs as I clawed and clamored for his touch. Even if he was most likely in a comatose state, I still needed to feel it.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a smaller, younger looking hand flitting in front of my vision, grabbing at Poison’s hand and bringing it over to mine. I looked at them to see a little girl, no older than five or six, beaming up at me as I finally made contact with Poison. A smile overcame my face as I squeezed my friend’s hand, looking down towards the girl, staying conscious long enough to whisper, “Thank you.”

The girl just smiled at me, her eyes as bright as the sun as she gleefully ran back to her teacher, with a hop in her step that boasted she didn't give a single fuck if she got in trouble. I admired that little girl.

I gave one last squeeze to Poison’s soft hand as I felt the sedatives take over, and I swear, just before I went under, I could feel him squeeze back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I understand it's a bit weird, but let's just say they weren't expecting Ghoul to wake up this early so they weren't prepared and that's why it took so long to sedate him again. I couldn't weave that in because 1, I didn't know how and 2, I'm a shit author so
> 
>  
> 
> There you go


	3. Moving In

I fought so hard.

I fought so damn hard to get out of this state I was forcefully shoved into by those freaks.

I knew I wasn’t dead, I knew I wasn’t sleeping. I was comatose.

My body, instead of something I could control without a single thought, instead felt like a supermax prison cell. No escape, no human contact, but the only difference was the inky black that was seemingly painted over my eyes. Yeah, it wasn’t that I wasn’t in a prison, because my body felt like a prison. Battery City, which I was no doubt in, was a prison. No, it was the seemingly endless darkness I was forced to stare into twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. No matter how much I tried to escape, it didn’t work. I tried to open my eyes. I tried to move something. But all of it did absolutely nothing. Nothing at all.

But boy my determination was there.

Although, like a prison, all this time and silence gave me opportunities to think about things. Think about my life, think about new ways of potential escape, think about what happened before.

But all that had been on my mind as of late was that little girl.

I knew she was nothing special, just another Better Living Industries slave, but the way she came up to me with not a sprinkle of fear in her bright brown eyes while the other kids cowered, even the teacher as well, and when she was done she hopped away, even though she wasn't saying anything her walk screamed, “Fuck y’all.” to everybody except for me and Party Poison. It was like that one song… oh… how did it go?

Ah nevermind.

Since there was nothing really else to think about at the moment (it’s all been thought about before), I thought about if she got in trouble for doing such a thing that day. Oh definitely. Probably a suspension, expulsion… maybe not an expulsion. She was a little young to be kicked out of school. And as far as I know there weren’t too many schools in Battery City to begin with.

And suddenly, I was jerked out of my weird thoughts at the feeling of something. Something touching something, that was apparently mine because I could feel it. But it sure didn’t feel like it. I couldn’t move anything, and I couldn’t feel my legs or my arms. If that makes sense. You know how your arms and legs are there because even when your eyes are closed you still know that you have them. It’s a weird thing to explain fully in words, because yeah, it’s one of those feelings human language won’t allow.

But I sure as Hell could feel something touching my arm or whatever. It was like a fly landing on my forearm, you just want to twitch and get it off-

And I did.

It came as a surprise to me, and whatever that was touching my arm as well, as it seemed to flinch away in apparent surprise as I did so. Or something. Being surrounded with complete darkness doesn’t tell you much, you know.

I did it again as the touch was put back on my arm, again flinching away. Suddenly, I got excited. Does this mean I’m waking up? Will I be able to see again? No more darkness? Even though I wasn’t controlling it, I could feel something working and curling upwards ever so slightly. I recognized it as a smile, even though I couldn’t see it again I could feel it. In more ways than one.

And then, I could feel something that felt like fingers wrapping around another body part. Agin, part of my arm or something, so I was guessing it was grasping a hand. This person’s touch was a lot rougher than the softer touch of earlier, what I mean by that is the person’s hand felt toughened and the skin felt hard. And I could swear I felt something brushing against my hand that was not indeed any part of the other’s or mine at all… something microscopic? Perhaps?

Suddenly, a thought burst into my mind as I remembered what it was.

SAND!

And my eyes flew open.

My senses rushed back to me as they did all that time ago as my eyes focused in on two figures standing in front of me, one a little bit taller than the other. Both of them I did not recognize in the slightest, and even when my eyes focused and adjusted to the light that was being poured into it I couldn’t discern who they were. Probably because the guy had long brown hair draped over his eyes and covering up his general facial features, and the woman I just didn’t recognize at all. The man had been holding my hand, which I did think was kind of weird. But I didn't object.

But what really punched me in the face was the sheer sweetness that had been seemingly sprayed onto my tongue. It was like dumping tons of the most sickly sweet sugar known to mankind into my mouth. It was kind of disgusting, really. Scratch that, it was disgusting. My eyes went cross eyed as I stared at my mouth, or really wherever it was in my line of sight as my tongue lolled out of my open jaw, sputtering slightly as I tried to get the damn taste out of my poor mouth.

“Oh, don’t worry about that.” The woman spoke, and I flinched slightly. Her voice was like the weird taste on my tongue. Sickly sweet and awful to hear/taste/whatever. “It just means it’s working.” She said, smiling sweetly to me. I only narrowed my eyes at her and sneered, being unable to move much else in my body. Which was almost worrying to me.

“W-Where’s Jet?” I asked, my voice hoarse and croaky with disuse as I thought about the other Killjoy. “W-W-Where’s K-Kobra?” I said, eyes flitting upwards to the man, who had seemingly winced at my words. The woman just laughed at me and shook her head.

“You mean Michael and Raymond?” Those words pierced my ears like pins, and I let an audible hiss at them. I shook my head, even seeing the man glaring at the woman through his thick curtain of brown hair. “They haven’t awoken yet. And your silly little rebel names will not be used here. Get used to it.” She definitely was a bitch I’d love to sock right here, right now. If I could move, of course.

It was then that the man brushed his hair out of his eyes, exposing more of his face to me. Whether it was intentional or not, I wasn’t too sure, but as I let out a gasp of recognition he caught on to it and quickly covered his face back up. How the hell did I not recognize him?! It was goddamn Party Poison!

“Hey P-P-Poison.” I said with a sly smile, my voice clearing up a little bit as I enjoyed the sight of seeing the woman glare at me and Party Poison joining in with the look, except with more of a surprised glance. “Nice b-brown hair y-you have there.” Poison let out a laugh at my words, and although it was hoarse and definitely showed signs of disuse I still found it… cute? Huh?

I discarded those thoughts as they entered my mind.

“They won’t let me dye it.” Poison said, and I found myself giggling only slightly as I still could hear his faint New Jersey accent from Before. The woman just sat there, glaring with pure hatred at Party Poison as he ran his fingers through his long brown locks, smirk on his face as his hazel eyes sparkled with amusement. “Or at least get it cut. I think they might do that anyways, however.” Poison spoke like the woman wasn’t there, right next to him. Which I did admire.

“Nah m-man, you look g-good with long h-hair.” There was always some gayness in our group of misfits, I think it came from working and spending so much time close to each other that it really blurred the line between complimenting someone and flirting with them. But one thing I did notice with a couple other smaller groups of rebels and hell, even bands from Before was that the working closely and spending so much time together usually ends up in some kind of love. Whether it be as best friend-like as it could possibly be, or maybe a bit more, there usually was a bit of love forming between some of the members. Just a thing I found interesting, and kind of relevant to our group. Could spending so much time together really end up in love? If so, who would it be? I was intrigued.

But I had noticed I had been staring at Poison with a smile on my face, which did make me blush wildly and look away. Poison just laughed and brushed it off as me just spacing out. Which I kinda was, I went off on that one tangent about love right in the middle of thinking right there.

“Thanks Ghoul. You look good with really any hair. Although if I’m being honest here, probably not so much with dreadlocks or a ponytail. God forbid you have a mustache.” Poison said, reaching down and flicking some of my long black hair. I giggled once again and playfully slapped his hand away from me, blushing even more now. I tried to cover it up with my hands and my hair, but Poison just laughed at my actions. “You should blush more, Ghoulie. You look cute. Actually, I take this as a challenge.” I just blushed more as Poison smiled mischievously.

“Alright Gerard, that’s enough.” I felt my blush go down at that name, to which I visibly shook as it entered my ears in the sickly sweet voice of the woman. Party Poison didn’t answer, like he just ignored the woman. It was clear he wasn’t used to being called by his real name. We didn’t use those, just our Killjoy names, so I knew I would probably not notice if someone called me by ‘Frank’.

“Gerard?” Still no answer. Poison was still smiling, and I smiled back, until the woman rolled her eyes and said, “Poison!”

Poison’s head whirled around to face the woman’s, with a raised eyebrow and an expression that clearly said what he was indeed about to say. “Yes?” He asked in a questioning tone.

“Go back to your room. And your name is Gerard.” The woman hissed, Poison rolling his eyes and giving me a sly wink, before exiting the room.

“How did you live for seven years with him?” The woman asked, scowling slightly ad her words came out harsh and sharp. I shrugged.

“Because I’m not a superficial bitch who gets annoyed at literally everything. And because I love him.” I said with a sly smile. The woman seemed to get really annoyed at me, which only proved my point further. I decided to mess with her more, as it was clear she didn’t like Poison and I’s flirting. “Goddamn, if I was in a room alone with him I wouldn’t care if there were security cameras.” I said, verbally pointing out the many security cameras watching every inch of me for any moves. “I’d treat him like my big toe and bang him on every piece of furniture I can.” I hoped she got it, and it seemed like she did, as her face screwed up in apparent disdain at what I said.

“Would you?” Was all she said, and I eagerly nodded.

“Oh hell yes.” And that’s when I decided to go a little farther. “Feel his hands running up and down my naked body, see his head thrown back with eyes shut in blissful paradise and beads of glistening sweat pouring off of his forehead as I thrust deeper- Oh Poison!” I moaned loudly, eyes almost rolling back in my head as my fingers gripped the sheets of the bed with white knuckles. I could hear laughter from Party Poison outside of the door, which made me smile a little bit.

“Babe, we all know would be me who would be the top!” Poison shot back, earning a giggle from me.

“We’ll see about that, sugar!” I responded, earning me a muffled laugh from Poison before it all faded away.

The woman was utterly disgusted, her tiny little face bunching up in abhorrence. I let out a dark chuckle at her, finding it oddly funny.

“Get used to it honey. You guys brought us here. Might as well get into the habit of making that face.” I shot at her, making her grimace at me and recoil a little bit away. “One day it’ll come in handy, because one day you’ll find me fucking him - or vice versa, I wouldn’t mind - into the mattress and that face right there will turn us both off.” I said with a sly smirk, the woman hanging her head slightly in utter defeat.

“My name is Adrian Roosevelt but please, call me Ms. Roosevelt. I’m the one supervising you in your stay in Battery City.” My previously mischievous and evil expression turned into one of disgust, mirroring the likes of ‘Ms. Roosevelt’s. As she turned her head to look back at me, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “Why so disgusted? You are finally off of the desert, where no humans belong. You are in an air conditioned environment with welcoming staff and citizens at hand, eternally happy in literal paradise.”

“Exactly.” I responded, my disgusted facial expression growing more into an angry one. “Woman, listen up. There is one big thing about the Zones, one thing that makes me heavily prefer the scorching desert over Battery City. And that thing is free-”

I was rudely interrupted by the door flinging open and a way-too-happy man dressed in a lab coat branded with the BLI happy face logo on the pockets and equally bright white pants came running in, a huge smile stretching from ear to ear as he brushed his short dark brown bangs out of his glittering - although, if I was being honest, pretty bland - blue eyes. He looked way too excited and overly happy, which did make me sick to my stomach. I stared at him with a questioning glare as he stopped by Ms. Roosevelt and excitedly whispered something to her. Ms. Roosevelt raised her eyebrows and whispered something back, the man happily bouncing his legs, and if his smile could get any bigger it definitely did then.

The man whispered something back, before he turned to me. “Hello Frank!” He said, holding his arms out to his sides and looking at me as if he expected for me to say hello back. Which I didn’t. I stayed completely silent, with a raised eyebrow and a questioning expression on my face. And it was then I realized, I didn’t like being called Frank. Sounded a bit too… strange for a person like me. Fun Ghoul sounded much better. But I couldn’t really object, could I?

Looking a little disheartened and confused at my silence, his smile fell ever so slightly, but as soon as he shook his head his million watt smile was back on his face. “I am Dr. Norris. Welcome to Battery City!” He said, throwing his hands up in the air. I still kept my silence and glared at him with dislike now trickling into my hard stare. Looking even more discouraged now, he cleared his throat and ran a hand through his hair before clapping his hands. “I’m your personal doctor and personal assistant. I, along with the wonderful Ms. Roosevelt here,” Dr. Norris gestured over to Ms. Roosevelt, who put a hand over her heart and comically blushed. “Will help get you integrated into the wonderful community here in paradise. You will learn how to work and be eternally happy, away from the treacherous climate and land of the Godforsaken Zones.” I actually made a noise at that, which was a low, deep, angry growl. Surprised, Dr. Norris stepped back a little bit, before putting on yet another happy expression, completely ignoring my noise of disapproval. “Now, let’s get started. First, you’re going to need to know how to walk. Believe it or not, a year and a half in a coma does quite a lot of damage to your muscles!” Dr. Norris let out a laugh at his own words, obviously expecting me to do the same, but as soon as he said those words my face fell into a shocked expression.

“A year… and a half?” I whispered, staring right at Dr. Norris. Slightly confused as to what I was kind of freaking out over, he nodded slowly.

“A fucking year?!” I yelled, making both Dr. Norris and Ms. Roosevelt step back slightly, before nodding simultaneously.

“Please don’t use such vulgar language here.” Dr. Norris said, placing a hand over his heart as he stepped back even more, almost cowering under my firey gaze as I let out a growl.

“Shit, I am so fucking sorry. I’ll never fucking do it again. Fuck fuck shit shit cunt bitch fuck.” I said, those words easily escaping my mouth in a sassy tone. Hey, seven years around both Kobra Kid and Party Poison really does a number on you in sass. It really proves that things do run in the family.

Ms. Roosevelt shook her head, whispering something about ‘wild savages’, me still staring right into Dr. Norris’s scared blue eyes.

“Yes, a year.” And it was then that Dr. Norris’s happy expression came over his face once more, like nothing ever happened. “But by a miracle of technology, we managed to keep you from dying, because we realized how good of citizens you could be!” He said, waving his hands around once more. I let out another growl, this time more mixed with a hiss. “But, still, as I said before, you need to learn how to walk correctly again.” He said, rushing over to my side and dropping down to my level. “So, can you move your legs?” He asked, eyes flitting over to the lumps that were formed in the bedsheets by my legs. I shrugged, willing my left leg to move, and to my surprise, it did. It moved up and down, with some difficulty of course. Dr. Norris seemed overjoyed at this discovery.

“Great!” He exclaimed, waving his hands about a little more. It was starting to get on my nerves. “How about the other one?” He excitedly asked, eyes boring into my right foot. With a little push, and some determination to make my damn body work, it got working alright. My legs felt stiff and disused, which they indeed were, and it did hurt a little bit to move them around.

“Excellent!” Dr. Norris said, looking at me with a wide smile and glittering blue eyes that seemed to be, now that I look at it, almost glazed over. Like in death. Huh. Weird. Maybe a side effect of the drugs being put into him everyday. “You ready to get up and go?” He asked, and I decided to fuck it, I nodded. But not eagerly. Not at all. He clapped his hands with pure joy as he stood up. “Alright, do as you would normally when you get out of bed. Or wherever you guys sleep at night.” In a body bag. But I wasn’t about to tell him that.

So I, for once, did as I was asked and went to do so, finding my hips less pliable than my legs. With a grunt and some extra force on my hips and ass, and Hell my arms, I lifted myself up and swung my legs over the side of the bed so they dangled there for the moment, and I was sitting up in my bed with the overjoyed Dr. Norris clapping especially excitedly before me. “Very good!” He exclaimed, holding out his arms as he spoke next. “Can you walk?” He asked, and I shrugged before sliding mostly off of the bed, the tips of my toes touching the cold linoleum and almost flinching as the seemingly freezing material of the floor met with the skin of my feet. I gulped as I slid the rest of the way down onto the floor.

For a moment there I was standing fine, no worry in sight, and that was all smashed to pieces when I felt myself crashing into Dr. Norris with both of us exclaiming an ‘Oof!’, Ms. Roosevelt letting out a shriek of surprise before coming over to hoist me upwards and back onto my feet.

“Frank!” She said in a disapproving tone, looking down at me as I growled at her, wanting to get out of her grip. I looked over at Dr. Norris, who was getting up and brushing himself off.

“Don’t worry, Adrian dear. Raymond did the same thing. And he’s 6’1!” He said with a laugh, me smiling evilly. Of course Jet Star knocked into that guy. Although, he probably did it on purpose, knowing him. “Luckily this guy is short.” My smile fell. “Didn’t cause too much damage.” Oh, I would if I could.

“Let’s try this again.” He said, a little more careful this time. I raised my eyebrow as I focused on my balance as much as humanly possible, my locked up limbs creaking and groaning painfully under my tanned skin. With a twist, I broke free of Ms. Roosevelt’s grip and held myself up to my surprise. I felt old habits of standing coming back, and I realized this was pretty darn easy and I could totally work on this.

I forced myself to take a step, reaching for the bed for some support. My ahnds gripped the edge of the bed harshly as I successfully took a step in the right direction. And old song I didn’t remember half of the words to popped into my head at that, something that went like “One foot in front of the other... “ or whatever. I couldn’t really give a shit in that moment.

But suddenly, I heard a hiss of disappointment as I felt my arm being grabbed and held upward, and my head whirled around to see Ms. Roosevelt looking with disgust at my totally inked arms. “Is there any way to get this stuff out?” She asked, eyes boring into the swirls and intricate designs of my tattoos. Stuff of rebels. Although Poison didn’t have any.

I just shook my head, pulling up my shirt to show off the ones on my stomach/ribs, and pointing to the ones on my neck and gesturing to the ones on my other arm with a mischievous smile as her face fell even more with each point/gesture. “Nope.” It was sort of a lie, but I doubted they had the technology for it anyways.

With a groan she dropped my arm and spun her heels towards the door. “You guys work on the whole walking thing. I gotta go work on some paperwork for Frank here. Bye!” With a wave and a smile she was gone, disappearing out of the door I assumed to be the exit where Poison also went out of. I cocked my eyebrow before looking back at Dr. Norris, who didn’t share the same expression but had something similar.

“Yeah, we’re going to need to cover those. The citizens aren’t used to something like… that.” He pointed to the scorpion tattoo on the side of my neck, and I only smiled wider.

“I’ve got a lot more.” Was all I said, looking right at the doctor with a glint of mischief and rebellion in my eyes that had always been there since the day marking the beginning of our seven year long reign of mutiny and revolt.

He just sighed and gave me a look. “I know. I heard from one of the staff you had chest tattoos as well.” I nodded. “Michael had some as well, Raymond had one, Gerard had none?” He kind of asked, cocking his head at me. I nodded once more.

“He hates needles.” Was all I said, and Dr. Norris sighed and shook his head.

“Well, anyways, we need to get you out of this blasted room.” He had little from his happiness earlier, and I thought that was indeed very strange. Maybe it was Ms. Roosevelt’s departure. Or maybe it was caused by me? If so, perfect. I did what I wanted to do. Disobey and disrespect. “You thinking you can walk fine?” With enough determination and strength sure. I nodded in response, brushing my still raven hair out of my eyes. At that action he grumbled something before saying, “Perfect. And while we’re at it, I think your hair deserves and good wash and a cut. Way too long and greasy.” I narrowed my eyes at him and scowled. Too long for the bull standards of the Better Living Industries. He stared back at me with a defiant gleam in his deep blue eyes that almost made me question if he was really a doctor or not. I mean, I would not be surprised if he wasn’t, this was the BLI after all, they’re terrifying and the con-men they use on the people can trick even the smartest of their citizens. Even rebels fall victim to these guys. But not as easily.

But nothing was giving me the even slightest of red flags, so I decided to just keep on my toes and be alert if any do pop up.

“You need some support?” Dr. Norris asked, holding out his arm towards me. I shrugged, using the bed beside me instead. For now. I didn't want to have to touch anything on that guy, he sounded so squeaky clean and looked the part too, giving me bad feelings and very bad vibes.

We slowly made it out of the aisle, me reluctantly having to hold onto Dr. Norris as the end of the bed granted me no support further onwards. But I made sure to dig my long nails into his coat and into his skin, making sure it hurt like a bitch and blaming it on me being paranoid. Pretty sure he bought it. He said I would have to go into physical therapy at some point, as I had been out for much longer than the other rebels because of some ‘complications’. Yeah, nice way to put “waking up much earlier than expected and then having been forced into another coma”. But it was only for a couple more weeks, so I couldn’t be too mad.

We got to the door eventually, me peeking out of the doorframe, hanging onto the doctor with a vice grip. I could tell he was getting hurt by my nails, which were indeed ragged and obviously cut hastily by the staff. I smiled widely at that.

He led me through the hall, me glancing around wildly for any sign of my comrades, him just looking around for the correct place to enter into. He was leading me somewhere, and that somewhere was down the hall it seemed. Towards the elevators. As my eyes drifted in and out of other rooms, I could see other patients that were clearly not rebels themselves. They had broken bones, check-ups, illnesses and other things you’d see in a hospital. All topped off with storerooms of no doubt medicine, containing the terrible drugs that made happiness for you as everyone in here had at least a small smirk on their faces. And made you a mindless sheep, a drone perhaps, of the overlords ruling whatever they could get their slimy hands on. I grimaced at this thought, eyes narrowing hatefully at the doors leading to the storerooms as we both walked at a slow pace down the long corridor.

My muscles seemed to ache profusely now that I was up and moving, which was understandable, I was up not even thirty minutes after I had awoken. Which was odd. But I just chocked it up to the BLI’s advanced technology and the fact I hadn’t been on their drugs. Thank God. If it meant a little pain here I would continue to stay off that hellish stuff.

We entered the elevator, me freezing for a moment before I carefully entered the elevator with Dr. Norris, and with a ding of the button being pressed we started our descent down.

I watched the numbers go down.

13.

12.

11.

10.

9.

The cheerful music ringing through the speakers inside the elevator actually made me irritated instead of happy like it should. If my grip could’ve tightened even more on the doctor, it definitely would have then.

8.

7.

6.

5.

“You’re going to see a live broadcast of the Chief!” Dr. Norris exclaimed as we passed the next floor, floor four. “She’s such a wonderful person!” Oh the things you don’t know.

I just grunted in response as we passed floor three.

2.

1.

Ground level. A robotic voice spoke, startling me only a little bit as the doors opened up to a blinding white that made me screw my eyes shut until the initial pain of the sudden flare calmed down so I could actually open my eyes and see.

As soon as I could, Dr. Norris led me out of the elevator and into a huge lobby-looking place with citizens milling around the place. All with smiles upon their faces. So, as a little act of rebellion, I put on a little scowl on my face and gave my eye the famed ‘evil eye’ look. As I did, I was getting stares and weirded-out looks from people as it seemed the lobby went quiet, Hell, even the staff were in on it as well. I could see kids stopping their playing and staring in wonder at my inked arms, I could see their parents running over to cover up their eyes but to no avail. They climbed and whined at their parents to get closer. Take a look. See firsthand what the Zones do to a person. My permanent tan from the scorching hot sun had faded a lot by now, but it still stood out amongst the masses of pale skinned people and occasionally darker skinned beings, is another thing that brought attention to myself. My long black as well, as I was a guy with this haircut.

But what really caught my attention, was the sun shining through the gigantic windows of the lobby to the hospital (it was basically a wall made out of glass) and only the pure white tiles of the enormous lobby. Putting my feet into a position where it was hard to budge me, I stopped and stared near the sun, as even though it was partly covered by a stray cloud it’s always common sense to not stare directly at the sun, Dr. Norris letting out a grunt of surprise at my action.

I detached one of my hands from the doctor, only to raise my arm and hold out my hand, palm down, towards the very thing that had been over my back, watching me, and kissed this skin for years. Against the sun we’re the enemy. Party Poison’s words rang throughout my mind, having been said a million times over in the seven years we lived in the treacherous desert.

As I gave my almost salute to the sun, I could see people turning their heads and looking up at the same thing I was. I let out a low laugh, letting my arm fall to my side once more.

“Against the sun we’re the enemy.” I said, and I said loud. I could hear people gasp, even Dr. Norris did and whirl their heads to look at me once more. Dr. Norris let out an awkward laugh before tugging me onwards, to which I just obliged with another low raspy laugh as we continued walking down the side of the lobby to another corridor with it’s own set of elevators.

I signed as we entered the corridor, shifting my body onto autopilot as we entered the elevator.

~~~

“This is the housing unit of the hospital.” Dr. Norris explained as we exited the elevator after a long, almost painful ride up to the fourth floor. I just nodded, my hands re-clamped onto his arm. “You have a room down this here hall, and the same goes for a small workout area,” Good. “And some other amenities.” Alright. He led me further down the hall and rounded a corner, before wrenching my hands off of him and taking out a card. “This is your key. It’ll let you into your room and the amenities.” He explained, like I was some kind of kid. I just sneered at him as I nodded, trying to keep myself from falling as I held myself against the wall.

He swiped the card on a reader placed on the handle, and the reader buzzed and a little light glowed green as Dr. Norris opened the door for me, allowing me to stumble into the room.

And damn, I was impressed with what I saw.

It was a small apartment it seemed, but with no full-on kitchen. There was a small living room with a comfy looking couch facing a normally-sized TV with a window looking outside onto Battery City, and branched off of that was a small hallway leading to the bathroom and bedroom I assumed. And I would have gladly taken the offer if it weren’t for the BL/Ind logos plastered on everywhere. And on everything.

“By wonders of Better Living Industries technology you are given this room just only an hour after awakening from your slumber!” Dr. Norris exclaimed, making me jump in surprise. “You are able to walk and enjoy food at your leisure. Of course, you will be moved out of here at some point, and transferred back into society.” I visibly tensed up. I won’t let them do that to me. “I do suggest you meet with some of the other patients living on the same floor, I’m sure they’d love to meet you!” No. It’s likely they already know me for the rebel I am. For the Zonerunner I am. For the Killjoy I will forever be.

I growled and stumbled across the room, landing with a thump on the couch and proceeding to lay down upon it, sighing in discomfort. It wasn’t that this wasn’t comfortable, I just wanted out. I haven’t even been conscious in here for an hour yet but it felt like an eternity stuck in these walls. I already hated this.

“Your pills will be handed in soon.” Oh shit. I forgot about those. Will I have to take those? Oh fuck. “Ms. Roosevelt will come and visit you, along with a very pretty nurse if I do say so myself,” Dr. Norris held his hand over his heart as he said that. I just groaned. I’m not that interested in girls you dumbfuck. “And after that you can do whatever.” He said, smiling with his million watt smile once more. “Press this little guy right here,” He pointed to a little blue button next to a light switch near the door. “If you need anything. Ciao!” He said, waving goodbye to me before throwing the key card onto a table inside and shutting the door with a slam.

I honestly had no idea what the fuck was going on with these people. Leaving me alone, don’t they know I could formulate ideas and get out of here? Some people are just so stupid. And what about my friends? I need them. Hopefully they’re on the same floor as me… I doubt it however.

I sighed, ceasing to think about this weird place and how they go about things, and just laying there on the couch, my mind going quiet for once as silence only occasionally broken by shuffling and slamming of other doors from down the hallway filled the room and blocked everything out of my ears.

And I stayed like that, almost wanted to just sleep but not wanting to at the same time.

I almost wanted to be comatose again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yeah... I don't like this chapter very much. I can't explain things well so i just integrated it into the story... so.... sorry about that :P 
> 
> it'll get better (hopefully) I promise


	4. So Give Me All Your Poison

From my eyes the expansive desert seemed endless in front of me. I slithered on the ground, my scaly chin scraping against the hard packed asphalt of Route Guano, my snake body gliding with ease over the cracks and potholes in the black top. My tongue flickered in and out of my mouth, seemingly smelling the air for any traces of life. Besides myself, there wasn’t any, I soon learned. The heat as well, normally it would seem crushing, awful, and all around uncomfortable to live in. But here, it felt nice. It felt normal. Just the right temperature. A little humid, but that was alright. I could deal. 

 

I slithered further against the hot asphalt of Route Guano, passing by the old rusty speed limit sign that read a measly 70 miles per hour in chipped lettering. Now, Route Guano held no police force prowling the highway, so we always seemed to go a good ten to thirty to even forty on occasions more. It was like the Killjoy lifestyle. Fast, rough, hard, but fun. Oh so much fun.

 

And then, vibrations rolled through my body as I heard footsteps coming up from behind me. Whirling my head around, I first saw the familiar black boots with wrinkled black skinny jeans hugging familiar crooked knees attached to an equally familiar figure. I looked upwards to see the figure clad in a red leather jacket with a bandanna covering his mouth, the material gleaming in the hot desert sun, reflecting off of the sunglasses half hidden by his defiant blond hair hanging in his eyes. Proudly shining a bright white were the letters “K O B R A” stitched on the left sleeve of his red jacket, the emblem of a snake hissing sewn onto the left side of his chest.

 

Yep, what was standing right before my very eyes, was the one and only Kobra Kid.

 

He kept on walking, his gait carrying it’s usual awkward step because of his crooked knees, but I didn’t give any attention to that because of the pure power his body seemed to resonate. I could see the red aura around him from the strength, and from something else it seemed. Something more… sinister. To say the least. Something that usually didn’t stick around with him, as he wasn’t the type of person. Too nice. Too calm. He wasn’t evil.

 

He kept on walking, me deciding to follow, until he stopped and raised his left hand. The power seemed to travel up into that hand, the red aura gathering in a ball around his hand, making the blue sky appear a dark, almost blood red behind it. I felt my snake body try to slither backwards, away from this scary being, but I failed in doing so. Badly. I flopped on the ground uselessly and tried to skirt away, but something was holding me back. I stared helplessly at the other end of the Zones, trying to scope out anything that would help me. Something told me to not turn around, whatever you do. Don’t turn around. Don’t look at him. He isn’t who you think he is.

 

But I felt my head turning around, but only to look at the little red ball of energy which radiated with anger. No, madness. No, pure rage. It was terrifying to even gaze upon. I narrowed my eyes and squinted at it, suddenly finding an interest in the ball of energy held within his gloved hand. It made me wonder, what exactly is that?

 

Did I really want to know? I don’t know if I did. 

 

It was then that he flung his arm out to his side, making the ball of energy flash a pure white and almost blind me as I could hear and feel the ground move and tear up under my body. I let out a yelp as I opened my eyes and saw what I was feeling, the ground ripping and tearing itself apart, dust and sand flying up in the air and covering Kobra’s body as his hand seemingly dealt the destruction.

 

And when the dust cleared around the Killjoy, I found myself staring into the eyes of Kobra. His glowing dark green eyes bored into my soul as he sported a smile I never wanted to see on anyone. One of darkness, one of rage, one of madness, one of insanity. Pure chaos. I backed up, still locked in the stare the man was giving me. 

 

“They’re coming for ya’, Ghoul.” He suddenly spoke, and I could feel the shivers traveling up and down my spine in tingles. I felt so much fear in the presence of this guy now, it was almost overwhelming. “They’re coming for ya’. They’re coming for me. They’re coming for everyone. Run. Run. Run.” My fear, if it could, quickly doubled in intensity as he spoke about seemingly nonsense. I slithered backwards, my snake body trying to get out of this frozen state I was currently in.

 

“Ghoul!” Kobra suddenly yelled, his smile growing wider as his eyes traveled up to the sky. “They’ve got me! Ghoul!” Kobra was yelling, twitching with every syllable out of his crazed mouth. “Run, run, run. Frank, run. They’ve got me, don’t- Frank. Frank. Frank. Wake up. Frank- They’ve got me!” If this man could be laughing, he definitely would be at this moment in time. He was completely insane! “They’ve got me! Run! Run! Wake up! FrankFrankFrankFrank-” I saw darkness edge at my vision as I felt someone seemingly shaking me, Kobra still going mad and shouting random things.

 

“Save me! Frank! Wake up wake up wake up it’s just a dream Frank it’s all just a dream- They’ve got me Frank! Wake up! Get me the hell out of here! There’s someone in my hea- I can’t get them out- It hurts Frank! It hurts! Get it out! It’s just a dream! They’ve got you! They’ve got you! Frank! It’s just a dream! It’s all just a dream! WAKE UP!!”

 

And I did.

 

~~~

 

My eyes jerked open as I let out a yelp of surprise, my vision blinded by the sun coming through the windows and I soon felt myself falling to the floor with a thud. I let out a groan of pain as my eyes adjusted to the light, and I yelped once more as a figure appeared over me with a concerned expression and a worried tone of voice.

 

“Oh my! Are you okay?” Their voice was feminine, and what came into focus was a friendly-looking dirty blonde nurse with shining blue eyes and equal blue eyeshadow, wearing a stereotypical nurse's outfit. I gulped, finding myself to be in a cold sweat from what the fuck just happened. “Sh, Frank… that must’ve been some nightmare. You were thrashing around and everything…” She said, helping me to my barely stable feet. I wiped some sweat off of my brow and let out a shaky sigh, the image of the insane Kobra Kid still burned into my eyelids. “Would you like to talk about it?” She asked, cocking her head at me, and I found myself nodding. I don’t know why, I didn’t know this person. Why was I nodding?

 

“Alright, okay…” She eased me down on the couch, her sitting next to me as she rubbed my back, which I did find kind of strange for a near stranger, but this was Battery City so I couldn’t say it was just her. The pills she took daily probably warped her sense of personal space, no doubt about that. “Would you like to start from the beginning? What was it about? I’m known for my dream interpretations, sorry…” She said, giggling slightly to herself. “But first, I’m Ms. Lindemulder. And you are Frank, I’m thinking. I was just here to administer your pills but I get I’ll be here for longer.” She said, and I nodded a yes to her question. Ms. Lindemulder smiled sweetly at me, intertwining her fingers and setting her hands on her lap. 

 

“Alright, tell me everything you remember.” She said, her tone becoming serious now as she stared at me with hardened blue eyes that were not letting me read her. Not letting anything through. But soon enough I found myself spilling almost everything, keeping the whole thing about Kobra Kid vague (doubted she would want to know that it was really Kobra Kid) but telling her that I was a snake and all the crazy things that the figure (Kobra) was saying to me. Revisiting those strange memories that seemed to be burned into my mind was rather weird for me, as I stated to develop a sweat as I remembered Kobra’s insane eyes boring into my very soul. 

 

~~~  
“His eyes were staring into my very soul, and he was yelling all these random things as I said... and then you woke me up.” I finished, wringing my hands nervously in my lap as I looked up at Ms. Lindemulder. She was listening in eagerly, drinking up every word as if she were a thirsty Zonerunner. And those people are almost always thirsty, being on a desert and all. Believe me, I was one. “It was so vivid and so real, it really did catch me off guard.”

 

“Huh. Well that is interesting.” She whispered, placing her pointer and middle fingers on her temples in thought. “Do you recognize this… figure?” She asked, taking her fingers off her temple and looking at me with her bright blue eyes. A part of me wanted to tell her that it was one of my friends, but another, more rational part of me said that if I did she would probably do something very drastic to me but probably in a subtle way. To be blunt, I was kind of freaking out. This was very strange, and I didn’t know what to do. She seemed to catch onto this, which I hoped she didn’t also catch onto the fact that I was using they/them and being as vague as I can around this because I actually knew this person and recognized them, because it seemed she did, as her next question was- “So, if it was on a desert… was it one of your friends?” Now, she didn’t spit out ‘friends’ like it was poison, like maybe Ms. Roosevelt or Dr. Norris would, she said it like it was any other word. That made my eyebrows furrow in confusion as I pretended to be in thought, before nodding slowly. She let out a gasp, but with a smile. “Oh! Was it?” I nodded once more. “Who?”

 

Should I tell her? “Ko-” I stopped myself. I was telling her everything, but for some reason I felt like I could trust her. She hadn’t done anything to me yet, so there was really no real reason other than fear that she would act upon her no doubt devotion to the BLI, making sure that my brain was wiped clean or something like that. I don’t know, the BLI were crazy like that. They were unpredictable and very dangerous, so who knows what they might do.

 

She cocked her head at me with an inquiring glint in her mysterious eye, looking at with a slightly concerned face as she spoke. “Who? You can tell me. I don’t mind if it’s one of your friends.” 

 

“If you tell anyone I will not hesitate to dust you.” Using Zone slang here was kind of risky, but I used an affirmative and serious tone to tell her that bitch, I meant business. But really, I could care less about her life. As I had stated earlier, she was likely just another drone crafted by the BLI. I could ghost her right now and I would have no regrets.

 

But her eyes just widened, her eyebrows raising at my use of Zone slang but she didn’t really do anything. “That means kill, right?” She’s educated. Okay. I nodded. “Then alright, I won’t. I swear on the memory of D-” She stopped herself right in her tracks. Although she let out a laugh and quickly covered it up, but I could tell she was uncomfortable from that moment.

 

“Okay…” I said, still feeling as though I could trust her. I let out a heavy sigh before speaking next. “Please promise me you won’t tell anyone, or judge me, I can’t lucid dream or any of that shit so… um…” I said, and I flinched as she set a hand on my shoulder.

 

“No, it’s fine. Your secret is safe with me.” 

 

I let out another heavy sigh.

 

“It was Kobra Ki- I mean… Mikey...? Was that his name?” I said, feeling like a bad comrade in arms for not remembering his real name. I could hear Ms. Lindemulder gasp slightly, but to my surprise a smile came over her face. But it was soon replaced with a worried frown with furrowed eyebrows to match.

 

“Michael.” She said with a concerned tone, avoiding my eyes as she slid her hand off of my back. “Michael James Way…” Ms. Lindemulder whispered, eyes latched onto the hardwood white floor of my little living space. “Born on September 10th of your guess is as good as mine…” She whispered seemingly to herself, mulling over facts about my friend for what reason I couldn’t see. “Brother of Gerard Arthur Way otherwise known as ‘Party Poison’…” She tapped her head with her finger, seemingly digging for something inside of her mind. 

 

She suddenly sat up straight, eyes flitting over to stare deep into my own. “Has this Kobra had any chaotic tendencies? Or, does he seem like the guy who would go on a murdering spree?” She asked, her voice worryingly serious and putting me on edge. Of course not! Kobra would never!

 

“No…?” I said in pure bewilderment, my voice laced with the same confusion littering my facial expression. Why on Earth would she ask such a thing? Kobra was as far from a serial killer as someone could be. Sure, he has a short temper, but other than that he’s a nice guy. And she had also referred to Kobra as Kobra and not used his real name, which was strange coming from someone no doubt devoted to the BLI. “Why?”

 

“Because if you said yes, that might have been why he was crazy… or maybe something else. Because that red sky you told me about commonly means looming danger, and really the colour red symbolizes anger and such other emotions as that, so… I don’t know what to make your dream there mister.” Ms. Lindemulder said, shaking her head as she relaxed herself and looked at me. “Certainly a strange, one, and I guess we’ll have to see what the future makes of it. Keep that in your head.” She said, smiling at me with a closed-lip smile. I nodded slowly, making mental note to at least write this dream down somewhere. “But anyways, finally getting back on track before I get yelled at by the higher-ups, your pills.”

 

It was that moment, when those words exited out of her glossy lips, that I froze solid.

 

She seemed to notice this, as she gave me a rather strange look and said, “What’s the matter?” As she pulled a black and white pill bottle from one of the pockets in her uniform. I felt my head shake slowly, staring with wide eyes at the pills she was holding in her hands. I did not want to take them. I wasn’t going to take them. I couldn’t take them. They couldn’t force me to. No. Never.

 

“Frank?” She said, furrowing her eyebrows in worry. “What is it?” Wasn’t it obvious? 

 

“No.” Was all I could find myself to say in that moment then as I stared at the pills with fear and a deep burning hatred all at the same time. Ms. Lindemulder stared back at me, shaking her head softly and pursing her lips together.

 

“Frank, I know what you rebels have been taught, and I’m here to tell you that it’s all fake. It’s all lies.” I could hear a growl resonating through my throat as she spoke those words. She didn’t know what went on behind closed doors here, unlike I did. “These pills help and cure you. The BLI can fix you. You have left your old life on the Zones and now can live a life of luxury here in Battery City, always happy with your life. You don’t have to feel depression, you don’t have to feel sadness, you can’t feel lonely, it’s paradise here.” She spoke with an overly happy tone of voice that I absolutely despised. 

 

“No.” I continued to say, and Ms. Lindemulder let out a loud sigh and shook the bottle of pills slightly in her hands. 

 

“But why not?” She asked. “The BLI have everything you could possibly need in a one stop shop right here under your very fingertips in Battery City, even an afterlife plan!” All colour drained out of my face when she said those words, I knew it. An afterlife plan?! That’s fucking crazy!

 

It took me a moment to recover from learning that knowledge. “Have you ever stopped to think exactly why there are rebels out on the Zones?” I asked, gulping loudly as I tried to drive out the thoughts of the BLI controlling people’s afterlife as well. That was insane. How could they do such a thing? But I continued onwards with what I had to say. “Have you ever stopped to think the rebels will not go near the pills? Will not surrender willingly? That’s because there is a lot more to the Better Living Industries you know and love than what meets the eye.” I said, willing to show her the truth about this ruthless company.

 

But Ms. Lindemulder just laughed at what I had said and shook her head. “No, no, my dear, the BLI are here to help everyone.”

 

“All the ones except for those who know what the hell they are doing to people.” I shot back, giving her a long and hard glare. She raised her eyebrows at my behavior, apparently surprised that I was acting this way. How could she be? It was pretty obvious she knew that I was a Zonerunner, a Fabulous Killjoy at that, and one hell of a rebel. 

 

Ms. Lindemulder sighed as her smile disappeared completely. “Frank, I am just imploring you to at least try them. I know your background, I know what you’ve been doing for the last seven years, I know your cause. And I really don’t want to have to do this, but if you put up a little fight of yours I can call in the S/C/A/R/E/C/R/O/W unit.” Ms. Lindemulder said, and at that word my blood ran icy cold and I’m sure my face went a ghostly pale. “And they can deal with you. It might seem like overkill, but we know how to deal with people like you and in that we take absolutely no chances.” She stated firmly, smirking at my fear as she twisted the cap off of the pill bottle and shook it gently, her smirk growing into a smile as two pills came rolling out of the bottle. 

 

“Now take it.” Ms. Lindemulder said, her tone suddenly becoming menacing and her eyes turning to match. And then I felt like I had to take them. Just reach over and be done with it. It also felt like to an extent she was controlling me… I didn’t know what was going on right now but most of my mind was just saying to take the damn pills so you didn’t have to see the Dracs again. Honestly, my mind was all over the place and so much so that I didn’t notice my hand scoop up the pills and knock them back into my mouth until it was far too late.

 

Honestly, as I felt those pills slide down my throat, I realized something was very wrong with Ms Lindemulder as she smiled sweetly at me, watching as my eyes widened in surprise as the pills almost instantly took effect. 

 

The poison slithered through my insides like a cancer, infecting everything it simply touched with the synthetic happiness that sickened me to my very core. I tried to fight it off, but I knew that those attempts were to no avail. I was forced to succumb to these awful drugs, being forced to be happy in a time where I needed my senses to be alert and mind to be sharp. In a time where I needed to think clearly, where happiness was just an obstruction in the path. 

 

 _But maybe this wasn’t so bad._ I thought, but even though I knew that that thought was because of the drugs, I had trouble countering it in my mind. So it just went on as the pills dominated more and more of my body, a smile slowly widened across my face even though I wasn’t doing anything. Happiness warmed my body, and I continued to think that this wasn’t as bad as I had thought.

 

Maybe I should have never gone into the Zones.

 

Maybe I should have just gone in here.

 

Maybe I should have surrendered.

 

And for once, the little voice telling me to fight it off and not succumb to these thoughts had been drowned out completely.

 

I looked towards Ms. Lindemulder in my almost drugged haze, seeing her smiling as well. All was good, all as well, I didn’t even think of the consequences.

 

“Nice to see that you’re finally well.” Ms. Lindemulder said, patting my back with a firm hand and smirked with victory as she grabbed my hand. “Now, let’s walk out of here. Ms. Roosevelt would love to show you around town.” She spoke with a sickly sweet voice that dripped with sugar, but for some reason I processed that as a normal, happy tone that I should adopt as well. I did as I was told, stood up on mildly shaky legs and gripped onto Ms. Lindemulder’s hand with all my force not because I wanted to, but because I needed the support for proper stability.

 

We slowly walked towards the door, me feeling as happy as I’ve ever been, Ms. Lindemulder smiling in victory even though at the time I didn’t see it. My footsteps were slow and shaky, but I made my way over to the door and was about to grip the handle to open it until-

 

A wave of sickening nausea overcame me.

 

My hand flew to cover my mouth as I felt bile rise dangerously high in my throat, my eyes going wide as Ms. Lindemulder stopped to cock her head at me, wondering what was wrong. 

 

And suddenly, as if a tsunami had hit me from the inside, the bile overflowed and spewed out of my mouth as vomit with an awful retching noise. The green - turned white from the pills - sloshed over the ground with a gut-wrenching splashing sound, Ms. Lindemulder letting out a shriek of surprise at this action. It was surprisingly a lot for someone who hasn’t properly eaten in a year, but I couldn’t focus on that because right about now I was puking my guts out. 

 

My body seemed to just keep going, pain rocketing through me every single time, the retching noises echoing through the small apartment I had been given, until the white had no longer tainted the greens and browns. It was then that I let out a final pitiful amount of bile, before collapsing almost into the puddle of my own sick, breathing hard as the pain ceased. 

 

“Frank! Oh my goodness! Are you alright?!” No. I wasn’t alright. Clearly I am not alright. My eyes were wet, my breathing heavy, sweat pouring off of my brow, and most of all I felt exhausted. Through my teary eyelashes I saw Ms. Lindemulder talking frantically into what seemed to be a walkie-talkie, saying things like “he threw it all up!”. I let out a groan of exhaustion, struggling to get back up but I felt a hand upon my chest. “You’re lucky we are right next to a hospital, my dear, that sounded so painful! You could’ve died!” Hardly. 

 

I tried getting back up, and as I did so I had noticed that the drugged haze I had been in had almost completely left me. The synthetic happiness? Gone. And I couldn’t even feel it start to come back, as if the suspicion about the effects of the pills were supressed by the sudden sickness did not come true. If that made sense. 

 

Ms Lindemulder offered me a hand, still talking frantically into the walkie talkie. “We need cleanup fast!” She said before a pause. “No Susan, you’d know if it had happened to any of the other Killjoys.” She spat out with a surprising growl of annoyance. I just kept listening in. “Just get cleanup here, I’ll help Gh- Frank up and get him out of here.” A few more moments of near-silence. “God Susan, yes, I’ll have him in the day room, and I’m pretty sure the others aren‘t there right now. You know Michael is down below… yes… he’s the dangerous one… yes I know they are all dangerous. But that one… damn near ripped my throat out.” And that’s when I saw them. 

 

The pinkish bandages covering her neck, near the collarbones.

 

They flowed so smoothly and camouflaged themselves in the white of the rest of her nurse’s uniform so well without knowing that she had sustained an injury to her throat I would have never guessed. But what really got me… was Michael. Kobra. Did he do this? Michael was a pretty common name… so it could be referring to someone else, but why would it be? I was confused, and I as I struggled to get up she kept talking, holding out a hand for support. I shortly took it.

 

“Right… got his hand now… while cleanup are here yes I’ll take him to the day room.” Pause. “Susan, you are the f- nevermind. I am telling you you should know these things beforehand. No, he did not hurt me badly. Otherwise I’d be in the hospital!” She exclaimed, giving me a worried look as we both sidestepped the sick and exited out of the little apartment I was gifted.

 

Clinging onto Ms. Lindemulder, she kept speaking into the walkie talkie-thing.

 

“Alright, taking him now… stop asking me about it. You can go and see him yourself.” For someone who lived in Battery City, she was surprisingly angry. Or more like annoyed I guess. “Oh? They won’t let you go down below? Well don’t ask me about it! There’s obviously someone else more qualified to answer your questions Susan-” A pause. “You’re the receptionist for them! Ask someone! Jesus…” Ms. Lindemulder said, shooting me another worried look as we kept on walking down the hall, rather slowly I might add. “Alright, Susan dear, I gotta go. Just get cleanup up here, apartment 21B… okay? Okay. Bye.” And with a click from the other side, Ms. Lindemulder hung up as well.

 

“Whew, sorry about that dear. Susan’s difficult sometimes.” Ms. Lindemulder said with an awkward laugh as we slowly walked down the halls. My muscles weren’t used to moving quite yet, so my movements with my legs were slow and precise to make sure I didn’t go too fast and potentially hurt myself. I only nodded at what she had said. “I’m gonna take you to a lounge-like area called the day room, you can sit down watch TV, do whatever… it is a lounge actually.” She said, laughing at her own words and what she had said. I nodded once again, clinging on harder as two people passed by the both of us. They looked creepy, with their huge smiles as one of them walked with a cast on their leg… they shouldn’t be so happy here... 

 

I shivered, causing Ms. Lindemulder to look down at me with a confused expression on her face. “What’s wrong?” She had asked, but I just shook my head and brushed it off, non-verbally saying it was nothing. Believing this some, Ms. Lindemulder shook her head as well and looked away from me, and we continued to walk down the hall towards this so called “day room”. Honestly I was scared. What if there were SC/A/R/E/C/R/O/W units in there? I hoped not, but there was one way to find out, so I just swallowed my fear and continued to cling onto the nurse as we kept on walking down the corridor.

 

~~~

 

“Right, okay, here we are.” Ms. Lindemulder said as we can across a door further down the hall, the jingling of metal on metal being heard as she pulled out a jingling mass of keys, searching through them for a second before landing on one as white as the walls around it. Smiling to herself, she put the key into the lock of the door and unlocked it with a click. “Alright, this is the day room.” She said, the buzz of talk and laughter coming from the open doorframe as she opened the door, and I peeked inside. 

 

It was like a lounge, actually. Comfy-looking white chairs lined the white walls, most of the occupied by hospital residents, a TV with the daily news on in the background as chatter filled the air. Food also tainted the talk-filled atmosphere, and it was clear that there was some kitchen here serving some kind of food. Or maybe a microwave or something. 

 

It was actually, much to my surprise, a pretty damn big room. It was like a small house size to be exact, and I figured it was to hold and accommodate for all of the citizens who frequent this facility. All of the citizens were smiling and happy, even though they had casts, IV drips on movable poles, tubes and wires coming out most of their pores, crutches, and whatever else. I was like the unusual person here, the odd one out I guess. I only had a hospital gown on (and some pants of course) and I didn’t have a smile on my face and I didn’t look fantastic like all of the others here. I didn’t look happy, and that was sure bringing some attention. 

 

Feeling stares on me, I realized that it wasn’t just the non existent smile on my face that was attracting rather unwanted attention, it was because I was Fun Ghoul. It wasn’t because of the void that was created by the lack of happiness, it was because I was one of the most famous rebels in existence. Right here. Smack dab in the middle of a BLI hospital. That had to be surprising. I could see patrons staring with wide eyes at the marks of a Zonerunner, the tattoos that graced my the visible parts of my arms with bright and colourful ink. I knew that I was almost instantly recognizable by some, especially by BLI employees, and that was really why everyone was now staring at me with widened eyes and the smiles, to my surprise, completely gone from their faces. Now the previously happy and joyful smiles stretched over their features was replaced with expressions of pure fear as they started to back away from me.

 

“Now, now, everyone, this is Frank. He’s friendly and just here for a few because of bad planning. Please be nice to him.” I hated this. I hated how Ms. Lindemulder could easily talk to these people with a loud, authoritative voice. I hated how much these people were staring at me with pure fear in their eyes, only disappearing when she had started to speak. I hated how she was talking to these people like they were little kids. I hated everything. This was awful. 

 

The citizens seemed to ease up a bit as Ms. Lindemulder finished her sentence, drugged up smiles appearing on their faces as even some waved a hello at me. I waved shyly back, my hands speaking one thing, but my face and expression saying many other things. Like, I will slit your throat if you even go near me, let alone talk to me. Basically, I had an almost murderous facial expression on right now, because I hated this with all of my being. This was awful. I’d much rather be ghosted than have to deal with this shit.

 

I (slowly) made my way over to some of the chairs in the farther back, using the nearby furniture for supports. I needed to use my legs more, just to get them flexible and I would no longer take so long to walk anywhere. And I wouldn’t take no shaky and unstable footsteps anymore. I made a mental note to check out the gym room in this housing unit later. That’s got to be a treat.

 

Eventually, with the awkward “help” of some of the citizens milling around (they didn’t really help me, more like awkwardly gave me their cane or crutch to stabilize myself, but that was usually accompanied by a judging stare) I got sat down in the one of the far chairs in the back, mostly alone actually. Ms. Lindemulder watched me all of the way from her position in the doorframe, smiling as I sat down. She waved to me, mouthing a quick goodbye before disappearing into the abyss of the corridors, leaving me here.

 

I sighed heavily, ignoring everyone staring at me and instead focusing my eyes in on the slightly ugly tile that was the flooring here. As I said, I hated this. I hated this more than I’ve ever hated anything before, cleanup going to my room because I puked up the pills that were supposed to ‘help’ me… yeah that was indeed embarrassing and I almost felt bad about that.

 

Keyword ‘almost’, because truly I didn’t. Saved me from the hell those damn drugs would unleash on my insides. No doubt I would get addicted to it, wanting more and more of the poison dribbling throughout my insides and infecting them like a cancer. I knew it was awful. And I didn’t want that to happen to me, not. One. Bit. No way in hell.

 

I crossed my arms in defiance as I felt more stares bore into my skin, mainly my sort of bare arms, but I didn’t give a fucking shit. I was just going to sit here and be a rebel. Not smile, not be happy, not gonna talk, not going to do anything. Fuck all of that. 

 

But suddenly, yelling interrupted my short train of thought, and I looked up in surprise to see - Poison? Gerard? - shouting a couple of - oh no.

 

S/C/A/R/E/C/R/O/W.

 

I felt my body freeze completely and utterly solid and my eyes widen the size of saucer as they lay upon these guys, both pure fear and hatred flowing through my veins as I let out a loud gasp, attracting the attention of some of the other people around me, who were watching the confrontation with easy, unafraid faces. I hated their faces. I hated those Drac masks. They’ve caused so many of our fellow rebels to fall into enemy hands.

 

We were just lucky not to be one of them.

 

“Let me see my brother!” Poison yelled, his teeth as his hands curled up into tight fists. He wanted to hit these guys, he wanted to kill these guys, I knew it for sure. “Why won’t you let me see Mikey?!” He shouted, one of the S/C/A/R/E/C/R/O/W shaking their head as they pushed Poison inside the day room. 

 

“Let me see my motherfucking, goddamn, sons of bitchin’, fuck, fuck, fucking BROTHER!” It was clear that Poison was angry. Very, very angry. Something must’ve happened to cause this sort of an outburst from a person like him. This was not normal.

 

But the door was just slammed in his face, the sound echoing throughout the entire day room as silence soon followed. An appalled silence. I took a quick look around, letting out a breath I didn’t know I was holding, seeing everyone with the expression to match the feeling in the air. Appalled. Shocked. Surprise. I doubted they’ve even heard these words before! Maybe they’ve heard them, I’m not sure, but maybe they’ve been told it is a sin or something to utter them out loud. I don’t fucking know! My guess is as good as yours.

 

Poison then proceeded to let out an angry scream, his fingers gripping at his already messy brown hair wildly as his eyes narrowed with rage. I was actually worried. What the hell had happened? Poison was never this angry! In the history of ever, actually! I was confused at this.

 

“Hey, um, are you okay?” I heard a faint voice say as I saw a smaller boy walk up on crutches to Poison and tug a little bit on his sleeve to get Poison’s attention. To which it did.

 

“No! I’m not o-fucking-kay!” Poison screamed in rage at the little kid, making the poor guy stumble backwards on his crutches in pure fear of the man - no, almost monster - in front of him. “They’re scumbags… all of them… I’m going to kill them all… every last one… for that they’re doing…” Poison whispered something else under his breath that was barely audible, fingers still intertwined messily in his brown hair. The boy stumbled backwards further, his crutches scrabbling against the tile of the ground, seemingly trying to get away from Poison.

 

And suddenly, Poison lifted head and his eyes flickered over to me. 

 

And his features, well, they softened.

 

“Hey Ghoul.” His voice was slightly hoarse, probably from the screaming I figured. I just nodded slowly at him, keeping eye contact with my friend. He then made his way over to me, the groups of people surrounding him parting as he walked easily through them. His step a little shaky, his arms flat by his sides, but I didn’t pay any attention that right about now. 

 

He plopped down besides me, letting out a hiss at everyone who was staring at him and imploring them to go back to their regular business, to which they indeed did. 

 

“Hey, uh, Poison, you alright?” I asked in a small voice, and Poison just set his head in his hands and rubbed his eyes with his fingers, letting out another heavy sigh.

 

“No. I’m clearly not okay.” Poison said, looking at the ground with sadness in his eyes. “I can hear it. Even though it’s floors and floors below me, below us, below ours, I can hear the thuds on the wall, the gunshots, the screaming… oh dear Lord the screaming… and what’s weird is I was promised to have a visit with my brother, because come on, he’s my fucking brother, the only family I have left in this forsaken world, but now I’m not allowed to. Whenever I ask I’m rejected, quite rudely, if I may add.” Poison let out a growl as he said that. I shivered. Not being allowed to see his brother? When he was promised? I know that the BLI could really care less about promises to rebels and wouldn’t give a damn if they broke them, but I knew how close that Poison and Kobra are and that’s… slightly barbaric, if you really think about it. 

 

“I don’t know what they're doing and I can’t help but think, are those thuds on the wall my brother being tossed like a ragdoll against it? Are those gunshots aimed towards him? Are those screams Kobra’s?” Poison gulped loudly, and I felt my hand crawl upwards to rest on his back. “I know it’s unlikely, but I really can’t help but think it…”

 

“Look, we all just came out of a coma, maybe he’s having some complications. He never was the healthiest dude.” I suggested, and Poison let out a shaky sigh. “Maybe they’ve just decided that you two meeting, who I know you have some like telepathy shit going on there, is pretty dangerous.” I said, and Poison nodded.

 

“But why would they have let us meet?” Poison said, and I nodded.

 

“About that.” Both our heads shot up at the sound of a feminine voice, and to see it was Ms. Roosevelt, a guilty looking Ms. Lindemulder and a slightly annoyed looking Dr. Norris behind the former. 

 

“Frank, you’re coming with me. Back to your room. It’s clean.” Ms. Roosevelt ordered, Ms. Lindemulder taking me by the hand and helping me up and off of the seat. I just sent glares at all of them, shooting a slightly confused look at Poison. He just shrugged, looking equally confused. “Don’t let this happen again, Janine.” Ms. Roosevelt spat at Ms. Lindemulder, who looked even more guilty as she began to slowly lead me out of the room. 

 

“Bye, Poison.” I whispered, waving an awkward goodbye to my friend before being quickly ushered out of the day room, Dr. Norris whispering things to the passerby with a smile on his face as we did so. 

 

It was then, when the day room door got shut behind us all, I heard frantic whispering coming from the other adults moving me around.

 

“That was extremely dangerous Janine! This better not happen again!” Ms. Roosevelt whispered to Ms. Lindemulder, to only have her to nod.

 

“I didn’t know that he was going to be there!” Ms. Lindemulder whispered back, Dr. Norris letting out a huff.

 

“Will you two shut up? I tested his hearing. He can probably hear this.” He said in a whisper I could barely pick out over the footsteps that seemed like a roar in comparison. And with that they all did as they were told, shutting up as we neared my room.

 

I was soon thrust into a completely clean room, being told that they’d be right back and there was food and whatever in a hushed, rushed, and agitated tone. I didn’t know what was going on with them, but I guessed it had something to do with me being in close proximity to Poison. I don’t fucking know, these people were so damn crazy that really anything goes in this almost mental asylum of a place. 

 

I sighed, feeling my way across the walls and slowly sitting down on the couch again. My limbs, I had noticed, were loosening up, which I did smile at slightly. Meant I could move around faster, which was always good.

 

Seeing what had looked to be a television on the table in front of me, I grabbed what seemed to be a remote and turned it on, making sure to turn the volume down in case my eardrums were to be blasted.

 

The first thing that came on was the news.

 

“Everything is great today! Higher temperatures in the north sector, south sector is going to get some lower temperatures, and east and west expect some all around good-feeling temperatures today!” Repetitive and annoying. That’s my first thoughts about this presenter on the tele. He had too big of a smile on. Ugh.

 

I turned the TV off and lay down on the couch, letting out a yawn and throwing the remote onto the other side of the couch, away from me. 

 

Today was going to be a hard day, with what was going on. Jesus, they couldn’t even wait a day, could they? I wake up from my fucking coma, and then I’m thrust into a world where Poison’s screaming his fucking head off, BLI is trying to force some pills down my throat, and I have no idea where the fuck Kobra and Jet Star are. 

 

This was tiring, that was for sure.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just plain ass, normal, everyday, no question about it, no NFL, no year, not named after a player, not named after a coach, not named after the referee's pet goldfish, no quarterback, diamondback, Nickelback, it's simple, ordinary, unembellished, unmistakable, crystal clear, as frank as Frankenstein, as blunt as an atom BOMB
> 
> one compound word,
> 
> it's motherfucking,
> 
> goddamn,
> 
> sons of bitchin,
> 
> fuck
> 
> fuck
> 
> fucking
> 
> FOOTBALL!
> 
> to whoever gets that ily
> 
> it's rushed, it's stupid, it's inconsistent, it has a bad ending, but hey at least I updated


End file.
